#CAN2017 Quarter Finals — Tactical Match-ups (2)
DR Congo vs Ghana
The Leopards under Florent Ibenge began the competition with a very fortuitous 1–0 win over Morocco, but have shown the full range of their attacking potential. Their journey tactically has been interesting though, and means that ahead of their quarter final against Ghana, there are a number of ideas they can play around with.
Their first two games featured proper, out-and-out centre-forwards in Cedric Bakambu and Dieumerci Mbokani, but the goalscoring form of Junior Kabananga has perhaps convinced Ibenge he does not need to play with a striker in that mould. Ndombe Mubele, who began both those games on the flank, moved into a central role against Togo. DR Congo were a lot more fluid; Mubele, Kabananga and Bolingi rotating positions at will.
Ghana are sweating on the fitness of captain Asamoah Gyan, as much of their incision comes from the 31-year-old. Andre Ayew is the creator drifting between the lines from the left, while his younger brother Jordan plays a role that would have been redundant were Gyan as dynamic and mobile as he once was.
Mubarak Wakaso offers sweeping, if sometimes overambitious, distribution while Thomas Partey is the engine in the middle of the park. Here, they have a huge advantage over DR Congo, for whom this zone is a major weakness — both Bokadi Bope and Chancel Mbemba are defenders at club level, which gives an idea precisely the sort of function Ibenge prefers.
They are tough tacklers, but offer little guile. As a result, Ghana will dominate the ball, but are a little over-reliant of Christian Atsu to up the tempo of the team in the attacking third. DR Congo’s point of attack will have to be the Black Stars’ left-back zone: how will Frank Acheampong, pressed into service in that role, cope with a player like Jonathan Bolingi?
Egypt vs Morocco
The most eye-catching tie tactically. Indeed, Herve Renard’s 3–4–3 makes for very interesting match-ups, and his side is arguably the best drilled in the competition.
Karim El Ahmadi and Mbark Boussoufa are the heartbeat of the side, and the flying wing-backs Hamza Mendyl and Nabil Dirar have the stamina to force wingers onto the back foot.
If Renard could rely on actual quality in attack, his side would be favourites for the title. However, Aziz Bouhaddouz is considered the lesser of two evils, and while En Nesyri has been impressive since coming into the side for the disappointing El Kaddouri, he is extremely raw.
Egypt on their part concentrate on compactness, and rarely give up anything through the middle. Tarek Hamed and Mohamed Elneny are very disciplined, and Hector Cuper’s dropping of the creative Ramadan Sobhi for the final group game against Ghana was a clear indication: he values the endeavour of Mahmoud Trezeguet, and really this team only tolerates one “passenger”: Mohamed Salah.
What will Cuper do about Mendyl though? Salah clearly cannot (and arguably should not, for that matter) track him, so Cuper may have to play Salah centrally to get him out of that heavy traffic area.
The alternative, of course, might be a change of system to incorporate an extra midfielder to deal with Morocco’s quick switches of play, and also to allow Salah stay high up the pitch.
Egypt showed discomfort in the opening game against Mali against wide overloads and whipped crosses into the box, and Morocco seem better equipped to play in this fashion. On a horrid pitch in Port Gentil, crosses and set-pieces will play a huge part, and we have seen how good Faycal Fajr can be with them.
